Resuce Mission
by Uncle Charlie
Summary: Napoleon and The Doctor are in the hands of THRUSH and it's up to Illya and Donna to rescue them. Part of the One from Column A challenge.


Donna Noble still didn't know why the TARDIS had brought her here. She'd been picking out some crystal roses for her room when the TARDIS suddenly materialized in the center of the path. They'd left it in the backroom of a warehouse and set out to explore the city. She expected The Doctor to pop out and complain that she was late, but after a few minutes of nothing, she used her key and walked in.

She managed to get, "Doctor, are you-?" out when the TARDIS shuddered and took off. Donna was terrified, but all she could do was hang on, hope for the best and shout his name over and over again.

Illya Kuryakin coughed and slowly sat up. He felt like he'd been hit in the face with a… board. He looked over at the low-hanging beam he'd run into. Something heavy had hit the house, and the floor had given out beneath his feet, dropping him, apparently, into the basement of the abandoned house.

"I survive the fall and then knock myself out. Brilliant." He tasted blood and carefully touched his forehead. It throbbed and his fingers came away damp. THRUSH must have left him for dead. Rain was coming through a broken window and he paused to let it wash the blood from his face. His shirt front was stained pink by the time he finished, but he did feel a bit more clearheaded.

Apparently, the floor wasn't as strong as they'd thought. Now it made sense to him as to why THRUSH wasn't using this part of the building. For a moment, he looked around, hopeful that Napoleon would be somewhere close, but he knew in his heart of hearts that his partner had been captured and was probably being tortured for information about their assignment. Illya needed to find him.

He got to his feet slowly, remembering that it was a low ceiling and began picking his way through the debris. Not only had THRUSH used this place as a hideout, apparently whoever lived here before was a hoarder.

Eventually, he found stairs and made his way up, staying as close as he could to the damp stone foundation. It took a minute and too much of his waning strength to force open the door and cautiously peer out.

There was a woman with her back to him, obviously hiding and obviously terrified. Even of more interest was a blue police call box that THRUSH was crawling all over.

The place where she landed was the epitome of every movie haunted house she could remember. The TARDIS had crashed through a wall and she'd slammed into a wall. It was cushioned, so she was fine, but her pride stung.

She forced the door open and looked around. Footsteps were coming closer and she could now hear voices and they weren't happy. With a deep breath, she bolted out of the TARDIS to the shadows of a staircase. The door shut and Donna felt suddenly very alone.

She crouched at the side of the stairs and wondered, not for the first time what the hell she was doing here. Donna asked herself that a lot these days. She could hear other people in the building. Well, she assumed they were people. As a companion of the Doctor's, one never knew who or what to expect. At least they seemed more interested in the TARDIS than her.

"The way I reckon it," she muttered to herself. "I can hide like a little girl or give them what for." The harshness of one voice made her cringe. "I'll hide… for now. Doctor, where are you?"

Abruptly, arms encircled her and a large hand clamped over her mouth. She started to struggle, but then there was a whisper in her ear.

"Be quiet or they will find both of us." She was pulled backwards gently into some shadows. "I won't hurt you. Just trust me."

Right, like she hadn't gotten into trouble with that line before. Still, there was something about the voice, about the gentle strength of the arms that held her without seeming violent intent.

For a long moment she was held like that, long after the mysterious footsteps and voices disappeared.

"I'll let you go now. Please don't yell or you will bring the lot down on us. These aren't men to trifle with"

Donna was released and she stumbled forward a step, then turned her fist raised, ready to defend herself as best she could. The man she faced looked exhausted and ready to collapse at a moment's notice. In spite of herself, she reached out and guided him to a case. "Are you okay?"

The smile was appreciative. "I am now, thank you. What are you doing here?"

"I've lost someone. You?"

"Same. I suspect they got lost together." The man ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair and sighed. "That would be Napoleon's way."

"Napoleon?" Donna was dumbfounded. She and The Doctor traveled the universe, but somehow, she was always surprised when she ended up on Earth. "Napoleon Bonaparte?"

"Worse, Napoleon Solo." The man offered a skinned-knuckled hand. "Illya Kuryakin, UNCLE agent."

"Uncle? Whose uncle?"

"It's an organization that battles the bad guys?"

Donna pointed. "And those were the bad guys?"

"THRUSH. We're… um… big on acronyms where I come from. Trust me when I say you don't want to engage them. And you aren't from around here, based upon your accent."

She smiled a little. "I am never really sure where I'm from these days. I'm Donna… Donna Noble." She offered him her hand and he shook it firmly.

"How did you get here?"

"I was traveling with someone and we took a wrong turn."

"When I saw the blue police box, I figured as much. You're traveling with The Doctor, then." It was a statement, not a question.

"How did you…? Oh, you're bleeding." She touched his nose gently. "It's swollen."

"Believe it or not, I did that to myself." Illya took out his handkerchief and held it to his nose. "Never even saw that beam. When I came to, Napoleon was gone."

"Who…?"

"My partner and not someone to leave in the hands of THRUSH for long. I need to find him." Illya took a deep breath and stood. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay. A little shaky."

"I know the feeling." Illya looked around, frowning. "What say we go find our companions? I have a feeling wherever Napoleon is, we'll find The Doctor, too."

"I'd like that a lot. It's a little weird here. Where am I?"

"Abandoned house on the Maine coastline. THRUSH is developing a new weapon and it's pointed at Moscow. It's bent on starting World War III."

"Like we need any help for that."

Illya grinned at that. "I like your fire."

"Thanks." She smiled back. "I like your tie."

"Let's go." Illya took a couple of steps and looked back at her. "Do you know how to fire a gun?"

"A gun? No. I mean, I've never even seen one."

"Here." Illya pulled his and passed it over to her, butt first. "Don't worry, the safety is on." After a moment, she took it. "There's a switch by the trigger. Flip that and you can fire it. Otherwise, it's locked."

"Why give this to me?"

"Me, THRUSH isn't likely to back off of, but you I have a feeling you would flatten any man who tried to search you."

"Damn straight." Donna tried to sound tougher than she felt. It was heavier than she thought it would be, but it was warm.

"It's just a precaution."

"Uh… 'kay." Taking a deep breath, she dropped it into the pocket of her sweater and followed him.

At least someone had taken the bother to clear the more used corridors, so Illya had an idea where to head. Towards the back of the first floor, there had been a kitchen. Now it was something much worse for in the center over the room was something that resembled an oversized ray gun.

"What is that?" Donna whispered as they peered through a gap in the boards, then she gasped. There was the TARDIS, hooked to a dozen machines and looked annoyed, if a call box could be annoyed. "The TARDIS!"

"Napoleon is somewhere in there and I imagine your friend, too. We need a distraction."

Donna squared her shoulders and moved away from him. "Right. Let me know when you are ready."

Illya looked at her, dumbfounded. "What are you doing?"

"You need to get in. I'm not going to be of any help in there, so I'll stay out here. You don't date in Catford and not learn a trick or two."

Illya grinned. "All right, but you be careful. No heroics."

"I'll do my best."

Illya moved to the side of the door and Donna let out a scream, then took off running as if she's seen a monster or, possibly, a mouse.

The response was instant. Men rushed out and headed in her direction. There was another scream and suddenly Illya found himself alone.

He slipped into the room and hurried looked around. There at the back he saw two figures tied to chairs.

Illya ran in their direction, looking back nervously as he heard distant gunfire. It wasn't the first time he'd put an Innocent in harm's way for the sake of his partner. He knelt by the closest figure and asked, "Napoleon?"

The dark haired head bobbed up and his partner looked at him through bruised eyes. "Illya? What a party."

"In the bruised flesh."

"They told me you were dead."

"Wishful thinking on their parts." More screams and more gunfire. Illya hurriedly undid Napoleon's bonds and then left him to struggle to his feet as he turned to the second man.

"What's going on out there?"

"I have a very resourceful friend."

"He has Donna," the other figure said. He wasn't as badly beaten as Napoleon, but he still looked rough.

"You must be The Doctor."

"In the bruised flesh."

"Let's get you out of here."

"Not so fast, Kuryakin."

Illya froze at the voice. "Hello, Commander. I wondered when I would bump into you again." He turned to face an old enemy.

"I told them you weren't dead." The answering sneer sent chills down Illya's back. Or perhaps it was the weapon the man held.

"You would know. The last time you thought that, it cost you an eye."

"It's going to cost you a lot more now." The Commander raised the weapon. "I'm going to take you apart, slowly, until you beg for mercy."

"No killing," The Doctor said as he rose, shakily, to his feet. "I'm warning you. One warning is all you get."

"You?" The Commander laughed. "You can hardly stand up. Tell you what, since you don't like violence, how about I shoot you first?"

Illya stepped in front of The Doctor. "I can't let you do that, Commander, and you know it."

"I was hopeful. You UNCLEs, always so goody two shoes. I think I'll start with your hands."

Illya didn't flinch. "I'm not armed. You would shoot an unarmed man?"

"I'd shoot my mother if I hadn't already done it." He raised the weapon and aimed to fire.

At the sound of the shot, Illya convulsed reflectively and then realized he wasn't hurt. The Commander, on the other hand, sunk to the floor. Behind him, Donna stood, Illya's weapon in her hand.

Confused and horrified, she looked from the fallen man to The Doctor.

"Donna, what did you do?" The Doctor whispered, shock choking his voice.

"What she had to to save us," Illya said. He knelt by the Commander and smirked. "Rest in peace, old man." He walked slowly to Donna and held out his hand.

"I killed him." The woman dropped to her knees, shattered.

"No, he's just asleep. I had the weapon set for sleeper bullets. In five hours, he'll wake up with a slight headache and a major case of annoyance."

"But I didn't know that." She looked up at The Doctor, tears running down her face. "I'm sorry."

Then the spell was broken and The Doctor went to her, dropping to the floor to hold her as she cried. "I know and it's okay. He's okay. We are all okay."

"We won't be for long," Napoleon said. "Once they figure out they've been had, they'll be right back here."

"We'll be long gone by then." The Doctor helped Donna to her feet and guided her to the police call box and opened the door. "Shall we?"

"I don't think we'll fit." Napoleon shook his head, but Illya gave him a gentle push.

"We'll fit, but we can't leave that." Illya looked at the weapon. "It's too dangerous."

The Doctor patted him on the shoulder. "Let me handle that."

The THRUSH agents ran into the room just as the blue box and their ray gun were disappearing amid a series of moans and roars.

"What the hell?"

"Sir, it's the Commander."

"Is he dead?"

"No, sir."

"Then he's going to wish he was when THRUSH Central learns he's lost UNCLE's top agents and the gun. This was his last chance."

"The other guy and the box is gone, too. What just happened?"

The agent shook his head. "UNCLE happened. Let's clear this place and blow it before they come back for seconds." He sighed. "There are some days when being bad just doesn't pay enough."


End file.
